Blog Archives

Thought 1: The television adaptation of The Walking Dead is better than the comic book.

Thought 2: What does the title “Sins of the Star Sapphire” mean? I cannot find anything resembling a sin (either present or past) that the Star Sapphires committed. So, did the alliterative title sound cool? Is that why it is used?

Thought 3: I’m getting tired of the whole Bakker fracas. But I’m also fascinated by it. I get that Bakker feels that he is being grossly and unfairly criticized. But, does his intentions really matter. Is he, as the author, a determining factor in how his work is interpreted by others?

Thought 4: Hell no. Remember- the author is dead. A work of literature does not have a single reading, a single meaning. There are countless readings and interpretations. Now, Bakker’s intentions, influences, etc. can play an informative role, but Bakker himself does not own the “right” interpretation.

Thought 5: Maybe getting rid of my Lit Crit books is a bad idea. Damn it, I really need to do some research papers here.

Thought 6: I read “7 Reasons Why OEL Manga Falters in the US” by Deb Aoki for Manga.com (July 13, 2009). On the whole, the panel synopsis is very interesting and illuminating. To a degree, I think the problem is how Japanese comics are marketed in America. Is there a fetishization of Japanese comics that prevents non Japanese series from succeeding? Also, the argument that publishers mishandled (and abused) young artists is on the mark. The Japanese comics industry is built around apprenticeships (what the assistants are). Editors actively work to foster talent. Now, traditional American comics utilizes art schools in a similar fashion, but there is a demand for immediate return on investment. How many series need to build up before they become successful? Are comics companies (particularly those focused on “OEL”s) really patient enough for those series to be successful?

And as an aside, I find that the argument that young manga style artists are little more than fan artists more than a little insulting. If they are that bad, why even accept them for publication? The issue is marketing.

Thought 7: And damn, maybe I need to do a research paper on this subject, too.

First, some house keeping. For those of you who are awaiting my second look at Perdido Street Station (and the rest of Bas-Lag), I’ll get to it in the coming months. I haven’t found the time to reread it recently. If you are looking for a response to recent comments, I’ll address them when I finally get around to a future post.

Right now, I’m in the midst of reading Urasawa’s Pluto. This series is excellent and I will post my thoughts about the entire series after I complete it in a few week’s time.

I’ve also just completed reading volumes 17 and 18 of Fairy Tail. I loved both volumes immensely (I know, I’m a fanboy). In lieu of doing further review posts because they will all read, “This is awesome, you should read it now,” I’m going to write a post (or series of posts) that encapsulate my love for the series (and maybe some analysis as well).

This style of post is also likely going to be used on Naruto and a few others in the future.

In other matters, I want to explore OELs in a little more depth than I’ve done. So, if any readers have any recommendations, please let me know in the comments.